Chassis structure for airplanes



W. H. PHIPPS. v CHASSIS STRUCTURE FOR AIRPLANE-IS.

APPLICATION men SEPT. 24, 1918. RENEWED MAY 15. 1920.

2,416,747. Patented M23123, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- INVENTOR W2%% By Atiomeys, I

W. H. PHIPPS.

CHASSIS STRUCTURE FOR AIRPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-24,1918. RENEWED MAY 15. I920.

1,%16,747. I Patented. y23,1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

., INVENTOR 40%; g

By AflornCy- WALTER I-I. PHIPPS, OF NET f YURI; N. Y., ASSIGNOR CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK,

TO OEDNANCE ENGINEERING- N. Y., A CORPGBATION 0J3 NIH/V JERSEY.

CHASSIS STRUCTURE FOR AIRPLANES.

Application filed September 24, 1918, Serial No. 255,456. Renewed May 15, 1920.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WALTER H. PHirrs, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at No. 218 Nest 122nd Street, city, county, and State of New York, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Chassis Structures for Airplanes, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to an airplane chassis and its chief purpose is to afford a practicable and efficient structure for mounting the axle and wheels upon the chassis frame.

Another object of the invention is to c0nstruct the parts in as simple a manner as possible and so as to be readily replaceable when broken.

The invention has for an additional purpose to arrange the connecting parts between the axle and frame so as to offer a minumum resistance whenmoving through the air.

Still an additional purpose which the improvement has, is to reduce the weight of the required parts to as great a degree as possible without suffering any loss in strength or strain-resisting qualities.

In a very general aspect, the invention consists in arranging upon the outside surfaces of the usual side frames of the chassis, supporting members which are detachable, and which in turn, carry a detachable connecting member or pin. The latter is arranged beneath the axle, which passes through the side frames, and extends transversely of the latter, being preferably located between the side frame and the adjacent wheel upon the axle. The axle is held in normal relationship to'the side frame by means of the usual elastic cord, which is passed around the connecting pin already referred to, and also around a confining spool located upon the axle, and also be tween the Wheel and'the side frame. The supporting members for the connecting pin are held in place upon the side frame by a securing means which also serves to retain the brackets upon the inside of the frame, which latter act as anchorsfor the interior bracing mechanism.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1923723.

Serial No. 381,747.

Referring to tne drawings:

Figure l is a front, end elevation of an airplane equipped with the invention in one of its preferred embodiments;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lower end of one of the side frames of the chassis;

Fig. 8 is a front elevation, showing an enlarged detail of one of the side frames and a portion of the axle;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the axle, the side frame being broken away and the parts supported thereon beneath the axle appearing in elevation, as shown on line a e of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the lower end of one of the side frames, locking from the interior, on sectional line 55 of" Figure 3, and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

There are various ways in which the in vention may be carried out, and as an illustration of one preferred embodiment, l have shown it in a possible application to a conventional type of airplane consisting of a fuselage A and side frames designated generally by B and C and connected to the fuselage A at the base of the latter by pivots D,or in any other convenient manner. The side frames B and C, and their connection with the axle, indicated at I, are the same in all respects, and for convenience I will refer in detail to one of them, in the followdescription. 7

Each side frame includes-a vertical portion F and a rearwardly inclined portion G which are joined together at the lower end of the frame and connected by means of a V-shaped insert a, is usual in this class of construction. The parts F and G are reinforced at the lower end of the side frame and held rigidly together by means of a substantially ll-shaped metallic plate H which embraces both the inside and outside of the frantic and is held by belts or other attaching devices extending through the openings 7). The plate H is provided in both of its opposite portions with a vertical slot 0 terminating somewhat above the bottom of the side frame and the latter is correspondingly cut away to afford a guide way that receives one end of the axle I. The axle I is supported upon the wheels J at its ends, and the slots 0 in the side frames determine the amount of vertical play which View on is permitted to the side frames and fuselage upon the axle.

It is desirable that the side frames be mounted upon the axle so as to afford a relative yieldable relationship, at the same time employing parts of light weight and easily replaceable, and positioning them in such a manner as to offer the least possible resistance in flying conditions. To accomplish this, I prefer to connect the axle with each side frame at a point between the side frame and the adjacent wheel, by the usual type of elastic retaining means or cord, and the parts to which the flexible cord is connected upon the side frame are detachably held and can be replaced in small units without requiring an entire reorganization or reconstruction.

(l designates supporting members or clips which are detachably bolted to the side fran'ie upon the outside face thereof, against the plate H, as shown in Figure 2, and'which supporting member 0? carries outwardly projecting walls a having openings which receive a connecting member in the form of a hollow pin 7. The latter is removable and held in place by cotter pins 9 at the ends. The connecting pin 7 extends transversely of the axle I, or from the front toward the back of the machine, and is located beneath the axle, and between the side frame and the adjacent wheel, a shown clearly in Figures 1 to '3.

Mounted upon the axle I, just above the connecting pin f, is a confining device in the form of a spool K having side walls 7c, and L designates the elastic retaining means, usually in the form of a co d which can be wrapped around the spool K between its side walls and under the transverse connecting pin 7, thus serving normally to hold the axle at the lower end of the slot 0, as shown in Figure 2, and permitting the side frames to travel downwardly with reference to the axle in response to any abnormal shock, as when landing, or coming in contact with an obstacle upon the ground.

As a means of strengthening the axle, which is hollow, at the point where subjected to greatest strain, I provide the spool K with an extension sleeve M, preferably formed integral therewith. The sleeve hf embraces the periphery of the axleeand extends inwardly thereon toward the center of the chassis to a point somewhat beyond the side frame, as shown in Figures 3 and l,

where it is attached rigidly to the axle by a rivet h which passes through the sleeve and the axle.

It will be observed that the clips (Z, as well as the connecting pin flare separately and independently removable and replace able, thus making the repair of the parts a comparatively simple operation. It is also desirable to apply'this same idea of removability to the supporting means for the interior braces, and to further simplify the structure, I have arranged so that. the outside supports for the connecting .pin and the inside supports for the bracing devices, are both held by the same securing means.

To accomplish this, I employ brackets upon the inside face of the side frame and having side walls 2' to which are hinged the ends of the bracing tubes N, which extend horizontally of the chassis. The brackets also include upwardly and inwardly inclined extensions j to which are connected the bracing wires 0. The brackets just re ferred to are held in place upon the inside face of the side frame, by bolts P, which extend through the plate H and the side frame and also engageand hold in place the supporting member or clip (Z, already mentioned. 'The parts when thus constructed can be made in standard units, and are adapted to be readily assembled with great' accuracy. Incase of breakage at any one point,

it becomes a simple and quick operation to remove the particular port on that 18 no longer useful and replace it, without having to reconstruct a large casting or forging, and theeconomy and simplicity of the structure resides in having each point of support for any member, removable independently of any other connections or points of support.

While the invention has an extreme degree of utility in the particular embodiment shown, it is not limited in any sense to the structure disclosed, and may be modified in variety of ways, without departing from the essential principles underlying the purpose of the improvementor the scope of the following claims.

YVhat I claim is:-

1. An airplane chassis construction in cluding in combination, side frames, an axle extending laterally, wheels mounted on the end portions of the axle, and means for connecting the side frames to the axle, confining spools located upon the axle between the side frames and the wheels and adapted to receive elastic retaining means, and sleeves carried by the spools extending inwardly around the axle and attached thereto at points between the side frames and the center of the chassis.

2. An airplane chassis construction, including in combination side fra1nes,an axle extending laterally, wheels mounted on the end portions-of the axle, a connecting pin detachably mounted upon the side frame between said side frame and wheel cross-wise of said axle, and elastic retaining means passing around said. pin and axle.

An airplane chassis construction, including in combination side frames, an axle extending laterally, wheels mounted on the end portions of the axle, supporting members detachably connected to the side frame between the side frame and wheel upon opposite sides of the axle, a connecting pin detachably mounted in said supporting members cross-wise of and beneath the axle, and elastic retaining means passing around said pin and axle.

4. An airplane chassis construction, including in combination side frames, and axle extending laterally, wheels mounted on the end portions of the axle, supporting members detachably bolted upon the side frame between the side frame and wheel upon opposite sides of the axle, a connecting pin detachably mounted in said supporting members cross-wise of and beneath the axle, and elastic retaining means passing around said pin and axle.

5. An airplane chassis construction, including in combination side frames, an axle extending laterally, wheels mounted on the end portions of the axle, supporting memebars detachably mounted upon the outside of-the side frames, connecting pins detachably arranged in the supporting members and adapted to receive said elastic retaining means, horizontal brace rods inside the side frames and extending from one to the other, brackets detachably secured upon the inner faces of the side frames and having pivotal connection with the brace rods, and securing means extending through the side frames and each co-operating with one of the brackcts on the inside and one of the supporting members on the outside of the side frame.

6. An airplane chassis construction, including in combination side frames, an axle extending laterally beyond the side frames, wheels mounted at the ends of the axle, instrumentalities arranged upon the side frames and the axle, whereby the latter can be connected to theside frames by elastic retaining means located between the sideframes and wheels, the side frames having plates arranged outside of the side frames,

connecting pins mounted in the supporting members and adapted to receive the elastic retaining means, and securlng devices extending through the side frames and plates,

each co-operating with one of the support ing members and one of said brackets to hold the same in place.

7. An airplane chassis comprising side frames, an axle, wheels mounted on the end portions of the axle, and elastic connections between the side frames and axle, the side frames having supporting members attached to them and receiving such elastic connection, and horizontal brace rods between the side frames having end engagement with such frames in alignment with said supporting members.

8. The combination of claim 7, with brackets upon the inner faces of the side frames united to said brace rods, and fastening means passing through the side frames and united to said supporting members and brackets.

9. An airplane chassis comprising side frames a transverse axle, wheels mounted on the end portions of said axle, a pin connected to the lower part of a side frame beneath and crosswise of the axle, and an elastic suspension member looped twice beneath the pin and twice over the axle.

10. The combination of claim 9, the axle having flanges forming a spool for confining the loops of said elastic suspension member.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WALTER H. PHIPPS. 

